2021 finished strong, with another SPAC merger with a space-related (albeit not originally a space) company (Tomorrow.io), more fundraising by SpaceX, a few major private rounds, a couple of investments by Virgin Orbit (and hence yet further examples of a de-SPAC’d company deploying part of its cash towards investments) and even a small IPO (Sidus).

In this Space Café Radio – TOP-10 MOST IMPORTANT EVENTS IN SPACE IN 2021, contributing editor Dr. Emma Gatti talks about her thoughts on the previous year. 2021 has been an intense year for the Space sector. From breakthrough scientific achievements to thorny diplomatic accidents, the industry seems almost to be not keeping pace with itself.

So what DID happen? How do we know what happened? Was it appropriate for China to invoke Article V of the United Nations Outer Space Treaty? What level of oversight should the US have with commercial space activities? What level of transparency is appropriate? These are just a few of the questions prompted by China's 3 December 2021 note verbale to the United Nations.

The recent note verbale on two encounters between the Chinese space station and Starlink satellites has triggered a broader discussion on Space Traffic Management. But what do we actually mean by Space Traffic Management and what do we actually need? For many (including me), Space Traffic Management has a short-term and a long-term dimension.

In this Space Café Radio – our Review 2021 series, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Troy McCann, Entrepreneur, Space engineer, advisor, investor and founder and CEO of Moonshot Space in Sydney about his space highlights in 2021, what's up in Australia and what to watch out for the upcoming year in space.

In this Space Café Radio – our Review 2021 series, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Dr Malcolm Davis, Senior Analyst at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute in Canberra about military space in 2021 in Australia and globally and what to watch out for the upcoming year. 

SpaceWatch.Global is pleased to present the 45th episode, a special, in our podcast series Space Cafe Podcast#045 Special: Peter Rumler, ESA, Launching James Webb Space Telescope. Episode 045 features a special guest Peter Rumler. Anyone who takes time for an interview just 40 minutes before the launch of the largest telescope of all time has a lot of nerve.

In this Space Café Radio – our Review 2021 series, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Prof Kai-Uwe Schrogl. Prof Schrogl is an authority in global space law and space diplomacy. He was seconded from the European Space Agency ESA to the German Federal Ministry

As this next very challenging year comes to an end, we would like to thank you, our Readers, our Followers, our Friends and our Supporters for all your interest, feedback and the trust you have placed in us. Thank you to all the existing and new partners!

In this Space Café Radio – our Review 2021 series, SpaceWatch.Global publisher Torsten Kriening spoke with Dr Moriba Jah, Professor at The University of Texas at Austin and host of the Space Cafe "Moribas Vox Populi". They talked about 2021 on earth, in space, what moved us, what challenged us! But also what we can expect next year.